{"id":4900,"date":"2022-12-24T17:27:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T17:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2022-12-24T17:27:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T17:27:44","slug":"germany-just-took-a-drastic-step-toward-criminalizing-palestine-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/germany-just-took-a-drastic-step-toward-criminalizing-palestine-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany just took a drastic step toward criminalizing Palestine activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new report published by the German Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) that focuses on \u201cprevention and intervention against Israel-related antisemitism\u201d is pushing for further crackdowns<\/a> on pro-Palestine solidarity, and even discusses moving toward the criminalization of this kind of speech and activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authored by one of the IMK working groups, and adopted by the Conference earlier this month, the report consistently conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism by employing the controversial IHRA definition<\/a> of antisemitism. It includes specific suggestions, such as urging schools to show their students a more positive view of Israel in the classroom, and categorizes Amnesty International\u2019s recent report on Israeli apartheid<\/a> as \u201cantisemitic.\u201d The report even suggests prohibiting maps that \u201cquestion Israel\u2019s right to exist\u201d; whether this includes maps of historic Palestine remains unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decisions of the IMK are not immediately legally binding, such that the report is not currently actionable. But the Conference, made up of interior ministers and senators from Germany\u2019s 16 states, plays an important role in coordinating the activities of the country\u2019s local governments, and its resolutions are intended to be implemented at the state level. Although this implementation is not the responsibility of the IMK, its resolutions are politically binding, as they must be passed unanimously according to the Conference\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMK\u2019s own informational document details that failure to abide by their resolutions would \u201cshatter the foundations of collegial and trusting cooperation [between states] in the future.\u201d As a rule, the state-level interior ministries proceed in accordance with IMK agreements, and they report to each other on the fates of agreements and measures taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement to +972, Amnesty International said it \u201cstands against antisemitism, which is antithetical to human rights. We oppose discrimination, racism and hate crime in all forms, including against Jews or people perceived as Jewish. All of Amnesty\u2019s criticism of the Israeli government is based in international law, and on evidence of the great harm and suffering Israel\u2019s policies cause to Palestinians. Amnesty criticizes the Israeli government, not the Israeli people or the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMK\u2019s spokesperson did not respond to the author\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A delusional view of the reality of occupation\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The report singles out the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)<\/a> movement, labeling it dangerous and antisemitic, and claiming that it consists of \u201cforeign extremists, Islamist terrorist organizations and left-wing extremist groups\u201d \u2014 a claim that has been heavily pushed<\/a> by the Israeli government. It further accuses the BDS movement of \u201cplaying down Arab nationalist and Islamist antisemitism and terror in the Middle East\u201d by justifying this rhetoric through academia. \u201cSympathizers of the BDS campaign can also be found in the art and culture scene as well as within the scientific community,\u201d the report continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany\u2019s crackdown on the BDS movement has been intensifying for years, accelerated by a 2019 Bundestag\u00a0resolution<\/a>\u00a0that classifies it as inherently antisemitic, essentially barring organizations that support the boycott from accessing public funds and public spaces. The resolution has enabled universities, state governments, and public institutions to\u00a0deny<\/a>\u00a0Palestinians the right to free speech and assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That censorship has contributed to a swell of anti-Palestinian political sentiment and policy in Germany, the supporters of which believe it to be justified by Germany\u2019s historical responsibility toward Israel due to the Holocaust. The result is that any criticism of Israeli oppression of Palestinians is often immediately deemed problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is really a dangerous development in an authoritarian direction,\u201d said Kerem Schamberger, a German communication scientist and political activist, of the new report. \u201cThe adoption of this political, instrumentalized definition of antisemitism by the state, its institutions, and its ruling politicians is a delusional view of the reality of the occupation, shielding any criticism of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are trying to criminalize and punish any pro-Palestinian act,\u201d Schamberger continued. \u201cThey did so more generally with the anti-BDS resolution, but that was just the start. Now the states are trying to establish specific tools that they can use to target international solidarity and pro-Palestinian activists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The same old baseless arguments\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In order to counter the BDS movement, the working group that drafted the recent report recommended developing \u201cadequate educational media and educational formats for schools,\u201d as well as training for educators, to \u201cconvey a realistic image of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, +972 reported on the\u00a0German education system\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0aggressive push to adopt a pro-Israel narrative in classrooms. Not only has this led to a lack of critical conversation among students, it also discourages any embrace of pro-Palestinian dialogue, often resulting in a hostile learning environment for Palestinians. According to the report, however, the IMK believes that an even stronger pro-Israel agenda is needed in schools, as well as \u201cintensif[ied]\u201d exchange programs with Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the report doesn\u2019t just push for more ways to combat any pro-Palestinian solidarity. It also advocates harsher punishments for Palestine activism, aiming for these to be \u201cas universal as possible.\u201d The working group seeks to develop a model national guideline that can be used by antisemitism commissioners at the federal and state level to monitor and track antisemitic acts across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMK also suggests \u201ccreating a new legal basis\u201d to be able to criminalize activities against Israel or \u201cto criminally prosecute [pro-Palestine groups\u2019] right to exist,\u201d including legal regulations against pro-Palestine clubs and activities under the guise of \u201cbanning antisemitic gatherings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany is already committed to blocking pro-Palestinian gatherings. Earlier\u00a0this year<\/a>, Berlin police arrested and detained 170 people during\u00a0Nakba Day<\/a>\u00a0demonstrations, some of whom had done nothing more than hold a Palestinian flag or wear a keffiyeh. Berlin police also banned a vigil for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh that had been planned by Jewish organizers \u2013 all in the name of fighting antisemitism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis delineates yet another new attempt, nevertheless deploying the same-old baseless arguments, to chill free expression of Palestinian rights advocacy and legitimate demands for accountability through non-binding policy guidance,\u201d Alice Garcia, the advocacy and communication manager at the European Legal Support Center, told +972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, such measures would be difficult to approve through legislative proposals given their lack of substance and their failure to respect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThis document is therefore one of the means by which the promoters of an anti-Palestinian discourse are attempting to impose a new category of acts that they would like to see become de facto illegal; thus it must be strongly condemned and challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushing back<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some groups have indeed been condemning and challenging rising German anti-Palestinianism. Ahmed Abed, a Palestinian-German lawyer, was recently involved in a case that exemplifies this effort. The Palestine Committee Stuttgart, a group that supports BDS, had their bank account terminated by Landesbank Baden-W\u00fcrttemburg (LBBW) because of the group\u2019s anti-Zionist politics. Abed successfully helped the group get the account termination overturned \u2013 on April 26, the Stuttgart Regional Court ruled that LBBW\u2019s actions were unjustified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The court] declared that the BDS movement does not pose a threat to Jewish life in Germany,\u201d Ahmed Abed told +972. Yet this seems to have had little impact on the authors of the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe interior ministers are acting against their own constitution and against the Anti-Apartheid Convention to which Germany is committed,\u201d Abed said of the report. \u201cHuman rights organizations are demanding sanctions because of Israeli apartheid, but peaceful forms of action like BDS are criminalized. Palestinians are to be prosecuted for statements such as \u2018From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,\u2019 [for] the map of historic Palestine, or [over] BDS. The interior ministers simply ignore recent court decisions that do not allow this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Jewish scholars and artists from Israel are not happy with the direction things have been going in Germany over the past few years. In 2020, dozens of Jewish scholars and artists from Israel and elsewhere demanded<\/a> the German government remove the Federal Antisemitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, from his position due to his \u201cweaponization of antisemitism\u201d against critics of Israel. \u201cAs an official representative of the German government, Mr. Klein is undermining the exercise of fundamental freedoms \u2014 this should deeply alarm your government, considering its commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not yet clear what the implications of the IMK\u2019s resolution will be, nor do we know how soon this language will become law in the states. Yet one thing is clear: it is becoming much harder to fight for Palestinian freedom in the supposedly democratic state of Germany.

Source: +972 magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new report published by the German Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) that focuses on \u201cprevention and intervention against Israel-related antisemitism\u201d is pushing for further crackdowns on pro-Palestine solidarity, and even discusses moving toward the criminalization of this kind of speech and activism. Authored by one of the IMK working groups, and adopted by the Conference earlier …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308,188,187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-308","category-188","category-187"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4903,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions\/4903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}